Skubick's Capitol: A stealth speaker campaign?

April 21, 2003|By Tim Skubick

In the good ole pre-term-limit days, once a lawmaker got to be speaker, he held onto it until he was darn good and ready to let go. Now, we change speakers around here about as much as the Tigers lose ball games.

There are two camps of potential replacements for the current top dog Rep. Rick Johnson, R-LeRoy: Those who view themselves as speaker wannabes and those whom others see as speaker material. It's because of the former category that the line of candidates reaches from here to the bridge.

Getting your arms around this story, however, is no easy assignment 'cause nobody wants to talk about it. "Hey, it's way to early too discuss running for speaker" is now the standard line adopted by anyone who is even remotely interested. Here's why.

Word has gotten out about the Rocky factor. Former Rep. Andrew "Rocky" Raczkowski got out front real early in his bid to be speaker and you know where it got him. He became the sacrificial lamb to run against Democrat Carl Levin in the last year's U.S. Senate race. Rocky is now Rocky who?

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None of the would-be contenders are household names. In the top tier are Rep. Bill Huizenga, R-Zeeland; Rep. Graig DeRoche, R-Novi; and Rep. David Palsrok, R-Manistee. The first two guys made the early mistake of telling everyone they were interested in replacing Johnson, but that was before the Rocky lecture. Now they parrot the "too early baloney" and contend they are working hard to keep GOP control in two years … blaa, blaa, blaa.

They have positioned themselves to seek the top spot as they co-chair the House GOP campaign committee which raises money for candidates, but more importantly, it will allow them to decide who gets the money. And that means they might ask potential recipients to pledge their vote for speaker as a downpayment for getting the campaign cash. It's crass but it has gone on before.

To show you the kind of linguistic gymnastics one must confront when getting into this story, Nofs and Moolenaar were recently grilled on their desires and, like veterans that they are not, they cranked up the fog machine pretty good.

"I'm interested in getting re-elected," was Nofs' first evasive retort. Moolenaar was only slightly more forthcoming, conceding that "It would be an honor, but it's something I'm not seeking."

But after putting their feet to the fire both reluctantly confessed that they had thought about the post and could not rule it out while still contending they had no plans to run. Welcome to the club.

Then there is Rep. Wenke, bless his soul. He admits he'd like the job and up until recently he was shelling out an undisclosed amount of cash to former Speaker Chuck Perricone. Rumor was Chuckie was advising Larry on how to win but, alas, it's not true says Wenke. He was paying for advice on how to raise money for the GOP caucus which, of course, in no way would enhance his standing with potential backers. He even denies having any knowledge of that strategy.

Democrats are also in the hunt but they'll be covered in a subsequent epistle.

Translated: "If you want to make sure your name gets in that piece, (and you know who you are), you might want to get in touch.

- Tim Skubick is the longest-serving member of the State Capitol Press Corps, with 33 years of covering Michigan government and politics.